


Milk Chocolate

by Berty



Category: due South
Genre: Community: ds_aprilfools, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-03
Updated: 2007-04-03
Packaged: 2017-10-12 10:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/124080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Berty/pseuds/Berty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fraser knows things about Ray. Ray finds he likes it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Milk Chocolate

Ray slammed the last drawer closed with disgust. How was this possible?

A haul of eighteen screwed up, ripped, sorry-looking M & M's packets littered his desk. And not one of them had candy in it.

Ray's eyes narrowed. He bet it was Francesca – or Dewey – or that janitor guy who was always trying to break his neck with wet floors and ninja mop moves. They all knew he kept candy in his desk. He'd seen them watching, just waiting for him to go, so they could get their thieving paws on his stash. Now here he was, late at night, no candy and none in the vending machines.

"Is there a problem, Ray?" Fraser asked, not looking up from the case file.

"No. It's fine," Ray muttered, taking his filthy, unsweetened, break room coffee and clutching it despondently. It was too hot to hang on to really, but it was the principle of the thing. Who knew what would happen if he didn't have a hand on it – maybe _someone_ would want that too?

Ray scowled at his coffee, his desk, the deserted bullpen in general and at his partner whose face had appeared, cartoon-like, over the top of the file.

"Ah," Fraser said, his gaze taking in Ray's sour expression and the devastation on the desk.

Ray ignored him and manfully took a gulp of his coffee. He shuddered. Christ, it was worse than he'd thought.

He watched as Fraser leant back in his chair, popped one of his belt pouches and took out a neatly folded brown bag. Fraser's big, broad hands quickly opened the packet and shook several brightly coloured candies into his palm.

"Seven or nine?" he asked with a curious but polite gaze.

"Uh… nine," Ray replied, too surprised to think of a quip. How did Fraser know about the odd-number thing? He'd never told anyone about it – it was stupid, he got that, but it didn't hurt anyone or get in the way, so he persisted. He didn't even have a real reason for it, except that time he'd only had six M & M's left. He'd been holding that mug of coffee when he'd heard the squeal of tyres and Sparky's surprised yelp.

Ray counted the colours into his cup, two yellows, two greens, a red and four oranges. Oh god. Fraser knew that he liked the orange ones best too. Did the guy miss _anything?_

The Mountie's eyes were steady as Ray glanced up at him, looking back at him half-wary, as if he were expecting a comment.

"Thanks, Fraser," Ray murmured, leaning over to snatch a pen from the desk and using it to stir.

"You're welcome," Fraser responded quietly, wrapping the candy and stowing it back in his pouch.

Ray took a mouthful of coffee and sighed happily. "Gotta get me one of those belt thingies, Frase," he said.

"Mine is always at your disposal," Fraser answered with a small smile and picked up the file again.

"Yeah?" Ray grinned. "What else you got in there then?"

If Ray hadn't been watching at that exact instant, he would have missed it. But he was. So he didn't.

Fraser twitched, went still and then smoothly carried on as if he hadn't just totally jumped tracks. "There are several items one is required to carry being a member of the RCMP. A notebook, a pen…" Fraser said, suddenly stiff.

Ray only half-listened because he was too busy watching what Fraser was saying – not with his mouth, but with his body. The erratic swallowing, the death-grip he had on the file, the way his eyes were kind of staring over his left shoulder rather than at Ray; Fraser was doing his lying without lying thing. Misdirecting. Answering the question without answering the question.

Fraser had something to hide. Something worse than carrying candy for his cranky partner. Something small. Something he wasn't meant to have? Something else he carried for Ray? Something embarrassing? Something…

Oh.

Well that was… interesting.

"So all the Mountie stuff, the M & M's and what else? Any Fraser stuff in there?" Ray said lifting his chin to peer at Fraser's belt.

Fraser inched back, unconsciously putting a protective hand over his Sam Browne. "Well, I carry several items that I consider to be useful… that might come in handy… in the pursuit of… uh… justice."

Ray nodded, watching Fraser try and squash the redness that was creeping into his cheeks. Oh, yeah. Interesting with a capital 'I'.

"Proper preparation and all that," Ray said looking as innocent as he knew how.

"Well one never knows…"

"Nope. One never does, does one?" Ray held Fraser's eye for one second longer than he needed to. He sat back and took another grateful sip of his coffee.

Ray wanted to ask. Of course he did. But Fraser was practically thrumming with discomfort over there and he couldn't make the guy suffer anymore.

"So, what do you think? On the Robert's case? You think we should go rattle some cages down at the track tomorrow?"

Fraser practically sagged with relief, but Ray was certain he saw a flicker of disappointment in there too.

Yeah, he thought so. But that was good to know too.

He could wait.

It would give him time to sort stuff out, throw out some hints of his own, let Fraser do this in his own time. And that proper preparation thing? That sounded like a good idea.

Fin.


End file.
